Income tax will be cut by one penny Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced, as part of a raft of measures aimed at boosting economic growth
Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves argued the chancellor's statement was an"admission of 12 years of economic failure" by the government.Ms Reeves told MPs:"We have had six so-called plans for growth from the Conservatives since 2010... a litany of failure every single one of them.
She added:"It is all based on an outdated ideology that says if we simply reward those who are already wealthy, the whole of society will benefit.Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said:"City bankers will be popping the champagne while struggling families worry about how they afford the weekly shop.The chancellor's statement also sharply divided opinion beyond Westminster.
Shevaun Havilland of the British Chambers of Commerce , said:"Businesses will welcome many of the measures announced today that should boost economic growth, relieve cost pressures and encourage investment." Rebecca McDonald, chief economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said:"This is a budget that has wilfully ignored families struggling through a cost of living emergency and instead targeted its action at the richest."